Herbert Rauer

If one were to write a history of figurative painting about the 1980s, Monke would not be left out. But, fickle as the art world is, it continues to stubbornly look past Osnabrück. And Monke anyway. "Osnabrück ...! Yet Herbert Rauer, Monke's real name, need not shy away from comparison with the big four such as Kippenberger, Oehlen, Büttner or Middendorf, as this small catalogue shows. If he wanted to, Monke's (canvas) punk about human desire could easily keep up with his powerful paintings and sculptures in the neighbourhood. The Osnabrück artist and the others share the concept of "art that doesn't have to please", with the same goal: to frighten and to present. ... That's where they all come from ... Unlike the others, however, Rauer's work is not limited to painting. His work includes sculpture, performance, montages, as well as texts and, of course, music. If you wanted to place Rauer in a concrete stylistic context, you would undoubtedly have to mention the artist collective "Endart" around Klaus Theuerkauf, which corresponds to the Dada tradition and of course supported Monke's joy in irreverence. Of course, Rauer's brilliant talent as an agent provocateur/citizen scare obviously stood in the way of his reception time and again. (The scandal caused by his painting "100 Years of Feminism" in the taz editorial team is almost legendary). ... the great artists. "* Despite all the fun of noise and racket, there is also a completely different Monke. One of quiet tones, who patiently modelled the Quadriga with a magnifying glass, restored the knights' heads in Sanssouci or the Ceres Fountain in Stuttgart. The world is obviously not yet ready for a universal talent like him. Or is it? The exhibition catalogue offers plenty of reasons to think about this - and of course it is absolutely Monke-like, somewhere between anarchy and everyday life.